As part of the 34th Annual Jubilee: Festival of Heritage, Historic Columbia Foundation will offer a panel presentation of interdisciplinary scholars discussing the Mann-Simons site and the importance of researching and understanding historic sites of the Jim Crow era. The panel discussion will take place Thursday, August 16, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. in Columbia. SC Humanities helped support the panel presentation and other interpretive work on the Mann-Simons site through a Major Grant in February 2012.
The Mann-Simons site is a historic property located on Richland Street in downtown Columbia that once included a collection of commercial and domestic spaces owned and operated by the same African-American family from 1943-1970. Historic Columbia Foundation is in the process of adding new interpretive content to the property, including five steel “ghost” structures that will represent former buildings and new exterior wayside signage.
A panel discussion offered on Thursday, August 16, 2012 will feature three speakers who will discuss the importance of learning more about the Jim Crow era and how the disciplines of archaeology, historic preservation and public history can be used to achieve a better understanding of important historic properties, including the Mann-Simons site. The speakers are: Bob Weyeneth, a professor within USC’s Public History program; Valinda Littlefield, USC professor; and Jakob Crockett, HCF’s Archaeology Coordinator. The panel discussion will take place at 6:00 at The Big Apple at 1000 Hampton Street and is free to the public.
The panel discussion will be part of the annual Jubilee Festival of Heritage that takes place every year at the Mann-Simons site. The festival will take place on Saturday, August 18 and is free and open to the public. More information about the festival can be found here: http://historiccolumbia.org/site/calendar/2012/08/18/events/jubilee-festival-of-heritage.
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